Padres GM suspended 30 days by MLB in medical scandal
Padres general manager A.J. Preller was suspended for 30 days without pay by Major League Baseball on Thursday.
MLB announces 30-day suspension for #Padres’ Preller without pay. Related to Pomeranz trade with #RedSox.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 15, 2016
MLB made no mention of other trades in release announcing Preller’s suspension, just the one involving #RedSox and Pomeranz.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 15, 2016
This is Preller’s second suspension by MLB. First was for one month in late 2000s when he was head of #Rangers’ international operations.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 15, 2016
The suspension is a result of the July 14 trade that sent left-hander Drew Pomeranz from the Padres to the Red Sox. But the problems reportedly run much deeper and involve the alleged manipulation of medical records by San Diego.
According to an ESPN report, the Padres had two separate medical databases: one for internal use and another for industry consumption, purportedly in an attempt to come out ahead in trades.
The issue was red-flagged this summer when the Red Sox, Marlins, White Sox and a fourth team “were enraged by what they perceived to be strategic deception: veiling medical information that could have been pivotal in trade discussions.”
A.J. Preller
"We accept the discipline handed down from Major League Baseball earlier today and will fully comply with Commissioner Manfred's recommendations pertaining to changes with our medical administration and record keeping. Rest assured, we will leave no stone unturned in developing comprehensive processes to remediate this unintentional, but inexcusable, occurrence," Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler, managing partner Peter Seidler and president and CEO Mike Dee said in a statement.
"To be clear, we believe that there was no intent on the part of A.J. Preller or other members of our baseball operations staff to mislead other clubs. We are obviously disappointed that we will lose A.J.’s services for 30 days, but will work closely with him upon his reinstatement to ensure that this unfortunate set of circumstances does not happen again."
Preller also issued a statement through the organization accepting "full reponsibility for issues related to the oversight of our medical administration and record keeping":
"I want to emphasize that there was no malicious intent on the part of me, or anyone on my staff, to conceal information or disregard MLB’s recommended guidelines. This has been a learning process for me."
But the Pomeranz aquisition might not have even been the most glaring example of wrongdoing. In his first start after being traded from San Diego to Miami, right-hander Colin Rea complained of elbow pain. Unknown to the Marlins was that Rea had been getting treatment on his elbow for weeks by Padres trainers. Ultimately, he was returned to the Padres.
Colin Rea (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/TNS via Getty Images)
Apparently, the Padres were very lax in their documentation, as they reportedly had fewer than 10 entries on medical treatment for their players at the All-Star break this summer. The average number of entries is around 60.
Rival teams undoubtedly will leave no stone unturned when dealing with San Diego in the future.
Sources: Pomeranz and other players traded by #Padres were taking oral medications that SD did not disclose.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 15, 2016
